Building your own PC

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seodevhead
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Building your own PC

Post by seodevhead »

Okay... I'm making enough money now that I want to build the most kick-butt PC's for me and family. And now I have a little extra time on my hands and I'd love to get started and learn how to build my own custom PC's.

Anyone here build their own PC's? For someone who has never done it before... is it quick to learn/easy to do? Do you have any suggestions or advice before I start learning/doing my own? Any guidance is appreciated.
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Chris Corbyn
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Re: Building your own PC

Post by Chris Corbyn »

It's like putting lego together ;) Seriously, if it doesn't fit in the slot, it doesn't go there. if it does fit in the slot, it probably does go there. If it beeps loudly when you start it up, something is not connected properly, if it starts up without a fuss you put everything in the right slots :P

I don't build my own PC's anymore (mostly because I don't use PC's and partly because I lost interest in doing so when Dell could sell me a great PC for less than I could build one).

If you've never done it before it's definitely something you should do though :) The guys in the computer shop you get your parts from will probably be very helpful (at least in my experience).
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Re: Building your own PC

Post by matthijs »

I don't agree with what Chris said, it's not as easy as Lego. It's easier, because everything only fits in one place :)
It is scary the first time because you anticipate it to be very difficult.

It was a nice experience to build one and I learned a thing or two, but I'm also not sure I'd do it again. Same reasons as Chris. Maybe if i'd want to build a home linux server or something.
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shiznatix
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Re: Building your own PC

Post by shiznatix »

It is simple but take my advice and make sure everything is in a closed case properly mounted before you turn it on :D

First computer I built did not have a side to the case, my sister dropped an earing on it and fried the mobo.
Another computer I built was housed in a shoebox (no money for a case) and it got to hot the the mobo caught fire (seriously)
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Re: Building your own PC

Post by matthijs »

shiznatix wrote:It is simple but take my advice and make sure everything is in a closed case properly mounted before you turn it on :D

First computer I built did not have a side to the case, my sister dropped an earing on it and fried the mobo.
Another computer I built was housed in a shoebox (no money for a case) and it got to hot the the mobo caught fire (seriously)
:D

what were you thinking? I can spend $40 less on a case and instead put that in 200Hz more processor speed? :)
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Re: Building your own PC

Post by onion2k »

It's easy, but ultimately it's not worth the effort. You won't save anything over something like a Dell, nor will it be *that* much faster. It's worthwhile if you're after something niche like a tiny PC or something silent, but if you just want a normal PC that's quick go with a manufacturer.

Plus, if anything goes wrong in one you built yourself you'll end up dealing with a dozen different company's warranties instead of just one. That's massive hassle.
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Re: Building your own PC

Post by matthijs »

One thing I personally would like to have/build is a very silent pc. Since I work on a silent laptop (mac) I can't stand the constant noise when I have to turn on my pc. I always turn it off as fast as possible (but that might have other reasons as well).

I would like a very small case, no fans, and just enough power to run linux and xp.
Scrumpy.Gums
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Re: Building your own PC

Post by Scrumpy.Gums »

Write down EVERYTHING that you are planning to buy so you can easily cross check compatibility and make sure that nothing is going to cause a bottleneck. My two cents :wink:
alex.barylski
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Re: Building your own PC

Post by alex.barylski »

I wouldn't say it's as easy as LEGO. :P

There are a few things you need to be aware of:

1) Don't push *anything* -- even the slightest contortion of the CPU or mother board, etc and and you'll render the hardware useless and it becomes a paper weight at best.

2) When building from scratch, try and have the guys in the computer shop install the motherboard and CPU. Most parts plugin easily but the motherboard usually requires some interesting cabling. There are wires for hard drive lights, for speakers, etc. Those are sometimes tricky to find on the moterhboard (especially if you don't have the docs) and in my experience polarity does make a difference -- get it wrong and if your lucky nothing happens, if your not lucky, you fry a component.

The biggest mistake I ever made assembling a computer, was installing the motherboard *without* the metal/plastic standoffs -- easy to make if you've never assembled a PC before and think it should be easy peasy. Once you apply power, you fry the board. I salavaged my CPU and video card, but the memory sticks were shot.

3) Static. Most people assemble computers without any regard to static. I've assembled tonnes of computers and fixed even more and never had an issue. Then one day, on a cold, dry winter afternoon I attempted to fix a friends computer, while standing on carpet and snap. I felt a small shock and when I booted again, the computer wouldn't boot. It had booted only seconds earilier just fine. I eventually concluded that my little static shock destroyed the memory chips. Bad memory on this particular ASUS board caused failure to boot. I removed the memory and voila -- good as new but never again did I work on carpet.

The moral of the story, touch something metal before you go tampering with computer parts, at least you will discharge somewhat and not pass that onto your new computer parts. :P

4) Lastly, there is the issue of understanding the various configurations of computer hardware. When you install a CDROM and hard drives, etc, you better make sure you have the jumper pins properly configured, because when you boot and your HDD doesn't show up you'll be stuck wondering why.

Do you know when to set the jumper pins to primary master, primary slave, secondary master, secondary slave, cable select?

It's not difficult, but it won't be mentioned in the docs you get with the PC -- it's assumed you already know.

It's little things like this that can make assembling your own PC a real hassle and PITA.

I would suggest, having the techs install the motherboard, CPU, RAM and video card.

In fact, it should be store policy to install at least the CPU and RAM on the moterhboard and they should show you that it works and boots fine. Otherwise what is common, is people go home, install the CPU, puch to hard and crack the unit and come back to store complaining how the computer doesn't work. At this point it's to late for the store to return the part and they have no choice but to replace a part faultyed by human error -- or tell you to go away. :P

Installing hard drives, CDROM, video cards, etc is pretty easy. It's plug and play technology, but you might need to understand the configuration of jumper pins, unless your lucky and the manufacterer releases the disk already configured and it matches your setup.

Otherwise, just goto your local computer store, ask the sales rep to sit down with you and go over what you need -- it's a PITA getting home only to realize you missed a component, like a mouse or something. :P

Certain parts are only compatible with certain moterhboards, etc. If you buy parts willy nilly and assemble yourself, you might find yourself with incompatible parts and be stuck with them.

Go over the list of requiresments, but the parts and just have the tech install everything for you, it's waaaaay less hassle free and you leave with a machine that works. It costs maybe 100 bucks and take only 15 minutes.

It's still better than brand name computers because you don't get any garbage parts: I recommend:

ASUS motherboard
AMD CPU - forget Intel
Kingston RAM
nVidia or ATI video card
Seagate or Western Digital hard drive
LG monitor

Don't bother with a wireless mouse or keyboard -- as a developer I find myself changing batteries every day and when my keyboard battery dies -- my computer freezes for several minutes. Likely a driver bug and easily patched but I'm lazy and it's still annoying. :P

Oh I wouldn't bother with a dual or quad core processor either, if all your doing is development or general computing. Gaming maybe or a server, for sure, otherwise save your money and buy a single core. Get a quality heat sink and ask for that liquid metallic goo that goes between the CPU and heat sink -- it'll make a big difference.

Buy Windows XP pro and stay away from Vista -- it's such garbage its rediculous.
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Re: Building your own PC

Post by JAB Creations »

1.) You need to know what you need/want.

2.) You need to know what budget you're working with.

3.) Determine the CPU first, going to spend big and go high end now or want to be able to upgrade later? It also helps to have an idea of how long a socket's remaining lifespan will be (if you plan to upgrade to a faster CPU but they give the socket the AX such as AMD's old 754 and 940).

Buying parts depends though if you live in America I *HIGHLY* recommend buying from Newegg, they have their act together. You can browse by lots of important things. No other merchant will let you browse video cards by memory interface, DirectX, OpenGL, memory, and other options all mixed for example.

Here are some tips with components...

CPU An entry AMD system will be cheaper then Intel typically. Unless you're playing ultra high end games...
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800 socket AM2:$52.99
Intel Celeron E1200 1.6GHz LGA socket 775:$57.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819103735
$52.99 no shipping charge

Make sure you buy RETAIL, otherwise you'll have to buy a heatsink/fan separately. This is the cheapest DUAL-CORE retail CPU.

Between the two cheapest AMD/Intel CPUs on Newegg I'd easily go with the AMD with the same cache but faster clock speeds presuming you won't overclock.

RAM is dirt cheap. However you have to keep the OS in mind. Will you be using Linux which forces virtual memory on you without the option to disable it? Will you use Vista which will kill your hard drive preloading everything you won't be using? Or will you be using XP which doesn't suffer from virtual memory or precaching the heck out of your drive? If you go with XP and you're not doing much you can swing by with a GB of RAM though I usually recommend 2GB and always disable virtual memory.

2x1GB sticks (2GB total) of RAM...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLi ... rchInDesc=

I'd highly recommend Corsair as they have a ten year warranty on parts.
Patriot, Geil, Kingston, Team Elite, Crucial, G.Skill, Muskin, PNY, OCZ are the better brands off-hand.

The cheapest I'd go is with the Patriot memory (44.57 after shipping) for 2GB of DDR2-800. DDR2 is currently the standard of RAM and 800MHz (double dram so 400MHz sending two bits of data per clock = 800Mhz effective) is the max common speed except with the newer AMD platforms which is targeted at gamers.
$44.57

Motherboards
If you're not looking for anything fancy all you need to do is match the CPU's socket with the motherboard's socket...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLi ... rchInDesc=

Some boards include onboard video (so you wouldn't have to buy a new video card or even transfer your current card to the new system). Don't expect the play videos games with onboard video at all.

So the cheapest AM2 socket motherboard is $48.14 after shipping.

$48.14 - AM2 Motherboard
$52.99 - AMD 3800 socket AM2 dualcore
$44.57 - 2GB DDR2-800
_____________________
$145.70

That's a base system upgrade that you can port your current hard drive(s) too using your current case. If you don't live in American then I'm not sure what merchant is trustworthy in your country.

I'm not subscribed though if you would like more of my input PM me and I'll return. :)
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Re: Building your own PC

Post by Chonk »

If its plainly for work use and small amounts of gaming look into manufactured systems.

I would hold out for a month or so, there is alot happening in the market (new processors, new graphics cards, new motherboards) which will make equipment you buy now much cheaper in a months time.

I know its impossible to stay current but with so much happening this quick, bargains are there to be had in a months time by getting the hardware that is released now.

Alot of this new equipment is completely redundant to most people but it still drives down the prices.
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Chris Corbyn
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Re: Building your own PC

Post by Chris Corbyn »

Hockey wrote:1) Don't push *anything* -- even the slightest contortion of the CPU or mother board, etc and and you'll render the hardware useless and it becomes a paper weight at best.
I've carried RAM around in my back pocket before, sat on it, thrown it on the floor, left it in my car boot. it's indestructable! Well, almost. I've dropped a case on a CPU once which bent all the pins sideways. Crap. No worries, taking a screwdriver to them (yes, a screwdriver) to straighten them out (roughly speaking) fixed it.

Hard drives... well they're probably more prone to breakage due to the moving parts in them.

Some thing you do have to "push" too. In most cases, RAM, AGP and PCI components simply will not go into the slots without a reasonable amount of force.
2) When building from scratch, try and have the guys in the computer shop install the motherboard and CPU. Most parts plugin easily but the motherboard usually requires some interesting cabling. There are wires for hard drive lights, for speakers, etc. Those are sometimes tricky to find on the moterhboard (especially if you don't have the docs) and in my experience polarity does make a difference -- get it wrong and if your lucky nothing happens, if your not lucky, you fry a component.

The biggest mistake I ever made assembling a computer, was installing the motherboard *without* the metal/plastic standoffs -- easy to make if you've never assembled a PC before and think it should be easy peasy. Once you apply power, you fry the board. I salavaged my CPU and video card, but the memory sticks were shot.
I have to admit, I've seen a friend try to build his first ever computer and he screwed the motherboard to the case nice and securely.... then zapped it when he turned it on. The daft bugger had neglected to use the little legs that stand the mobo away from the inside of the casing!
3) Static. Most people assemble computers without any regard to static. I've assembled tonnes of computers and fixed even more and never had an issue. Then one day, on a cold, dry winter afternoon I attempted to fix a friends computer, while standing on carpet and snap. I felt a small shock and when I booted again, the computer wouldn't boot. It had booted only seconds earilier just fine. I eventually concluded that my little static shock destroyed the memory chips. Bad memory on this particular ASUS board caused failure to boot. I removed the memory and voila -- good as new but never again did I work on carpet.
I do agree that you shouldn't be ignorant about static.... but with hindsight I've *always* been ignorant about it and never had a problem... I think 99% of the time you get lucky...
4) Lastly, there is the issue of understanding the various configurations of computer hardware. When you install a CDROM and hard drives, etc, you better make sure you have the jumper pins properly configured, because when you boot and your HDD doesn't show up you'll be stuck wondering why.
To extend on this note, familiarise yourself with the BIOS! It's very rare that you'll ever build a PC without changing some settings in the BIOS.
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Re: Building your own PC

Post by alex.barylski »

Chris Corbyn wrote:I've carried RAM around in my back pocket before, sat on it, thrown it on the floor, left it in my car boot. it's indestructable! Well, almost. I've dropped a case on a CPU once which bent all the pins sideways. Crap. No worries, taking a screwdriver to them (yes, a screwdriver) to straighten them out (roughly speaking) fixed it.
RAM is actually pretty solid. My MP3 player and thumb drive have both been left outside in the snow and later found, and worked. :P

Hearty hardware they are. A CPU's pins I have also bent and fixed and worked fine. A CPU or a motherboard though, seriously doesn't take much bending to destroy.
I have to admit, I've seen a friend try to build his first ever computer and he screwed the motherboard to the case nice and securely.... then zapped it when he turned it on. The daft bugger had neglected to use the little legs that stand the mobo away from the inside of the casing!
It's a common mistake with first timers. Prior to building one from scratch, I had fixed countless others. Removed, installed countless hard drives, CPU's, ram, cards, etc, but I had never installed a motherboard and had to figure out all the connections. When I then bought my own parts and assembled I had a false sense of security which resulted in my making a big mistake. :banghead:

I later worked in a computer repair shop for a few months and see that at least once a week -- someone coming into the shop claiming we sold them a bogus board. Then we'd show them they were actually missing the standoff's and they'd feel like morons. :P

It sucks but I guess it's good for business cause few places will ever warn you about it.
I do agree that you shouldn't be ignorant about static.... but with hindsight I've *always* been ignorant about it and never had a problem... I think 99% of the time you get lucky...
Ditto. Like I said, it's something so easy to prevent, just touch something to discharge. But I never did, until that RAM incident, now it's second nature when I poke inside my case.
To extend on this note, familiarise yourself with the BIOS! It's very rare that you'll ever build a PC without changing some settings in the BIOS.
Yes absolutely. I remember once installing a floppy drive and not being able to get it to work -- I finally switched some stupid little setting about Floppy Mode 3 or something and voila the computer came to life. I was the hero that Christmas dinner. :P

Another issue for the OP.

Buy a wicked power supply. 500W or up.

I had an old eMachines which historically have weak power supplies. I installed a few additional devices, like a hard drive, a few months later my computer burned or I had a power surge and the damn board went to.

1) Invest in s solid power supply
2) Invest in a surge protector and maybe even small APU.

Harsh lessons learned -- might as well save yourself some greif/greef/grief. Haha.

Cheers :)
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Josh1billion
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Re: Building your own PC

Post by Josh1billion »

I'll admit that I don't know a lot about building PC's, but here's the general procedure as I understand it:

Step 1: Buy a motherboard and a processor-- they must be compatible with eachother because motherboards are only made for certain types of processors. You can often find bundles of motherboards and processors together. A good motherboard is one that supports PCI-Express, the latest RAM (DDR2 is great I hear, and DDR3 is out, but I've been told that DDR3 is just a waste of money-- not sure), has several PCI slots (that's something much different from PCI-Express, don't get them confused because of their names), and has two or three (or more) RAM slots.

Step 2: Buy a case that your motherboard will fit properly in...

Step 3: Buy a video card. It should be a PCI-Express one (AGP ones are outdated these days). Aim for a GeForce 8800 or better, or an ATI equivalent.. high amounts of video RAM are good-- 512 MB is about what I'd aim for.

Step 4: Buy hard drive(s), dvd-rw drive(s).. that sort of thing.

Step 5: Buy a power supply (400 watts or higher sounds good, make sure it has PCI-Express cables to power up that video card, and make sure it is powerful enough to meet your other hardware's power requirements-- again, I don't think most hardware needs more than 350 or 400 watts).

Step 6: Buy some RAM, the same kind your motherboard supports (DDR2 sounds good to me, but DDR3 is also an option). Go for at least 2GB, more if you can.
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Re: Building your own PC

Post by John Cartwright »

Hockey wrote:Buy a wicked power supply. 500W or up.

I had an old eMachines which historically have weak power supplies. I installed a few additional devices, like a hard drive, a few months later my computer burned or I had a power surge and the damn board went to.

1) Invest in s solid power supply
In recent years, a lot of power supply manufacturers are claiming higher wattages on their units. However what they forget to mention is the PS would only attain that wattages under optimal conditions, therefore the 500W PS you bought is only really a 350W :( I'm not positive if this applies to the higher wattage PS units, but most certainly the lower end ones. Just thought I would throw it out there.

Might want to ask your local tech about quality names.
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